


The Aftermath

by probzn0t



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Post Season 7, Season 7 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 15:47:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probzn0t/pseuds/probzn0t
Summary: Taking a look post-Season 7 of the lives of Voltron crew. The impacts of Adam, Sendak’s defeat, and the trials of war.





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Took some liberties I was unsure of, some of the lore may not be correct bc I literally started watching this show a week ago and nobody’s perfect.
> 
> But Hi everyone! We all made it through season seven, congrats! I just wanted to write a little fic that dealt with the emotional fallout that occurred in those last few episodes, because we didn’t get too much of it during the actual show. And just a disclaimer I am not part of any ship really, I just want to explore the relationships that I want to explore, and that’s the end of it. Like I’m trying to approach this fic like the writers would in an actual episode if they had the time! Not a writer by any means so pls don’t expect fanciful prose! 
> 
> Also I plan to take a look at all the main characters, but just wanted to post the first part to see if anyone was interested. 
> 
> Also sorry about errors i wrote this on my phone lolz

“Alright, Hunk, let’s push that cement block over to the side for the moment, just to clear the road for traffic, and then we’ll call for lunch.” Keith watched as Hunk manned his lion, and together they pushed the giant, broken cement block, once a part of building, out of the now clear, but rather decimated road. 

They had saved Earth. Had saved the universe--again. And now it was time to clean it all up. 

“Lunch,” Hunk said dreamily. “My mom is making enough food for all of us. And I gotta tell you, now that I’m out of space, I cannot get enough of my mom’s cooking. Even if it’s just spaghetti for the fifth time this week.” 

The shortage of food had meant that most of the time people were eating spaghetti and canned meat for every other meal.

Keith smirked, “Hey man, spaghetti is way better that that slime we were eating in space.” 

“Hey! I made that slime, thank you very much!” 

He saw Hunk’s scowl on his monitor and smiled, directing his lion to rise above the wreckage. “Alright team, let’s take a break. Hunk’s mom is cooking us lunch, so head back to the base. It’s spaghetti.” Pidge, Allura, and Lance were a couple of blocks over doing the same kind of work, and he could hear their groans of relief over the monitor. 

“Oh thank god, Hunk. I love your mom’s cooking.” Pidge sighed. “She can even make canned meat taste good.” 

“Oh good, spaghetti,” Allura chittered excitedly. “It reminds me so much of the Altean ‘larbgab’...But only in its form...larbgab is much sweeter in flavor.”

Lance eyes lit up at the sound of something other than their routine cuisine. “Maybe one day you could try making that for us, Allura, because I think I’ve had more spaghetti than I can take.” 

“I’m afraid not, Lance.” Allura gave him an apologetic smile. “You see, larbgab can only be made with the rare squibworm of Altea.”

Lance face tinged green.”Please don’t tell me those worms are the noodles.”

“Why, of course Lance…” Her eyes squinted in confusion. “Spaghetti noodles are not?”  
\---------

Back at the base, the crew hurried to Hunk’s apartment. Inside, the room was full of Hunk’s family, all chowing down on the spaghetti lunch. Immediately upon Hunk’s entrance, several children with messy spaghetti faces left their seats to tackle him to the ground. “Hunk!!” they squealed. 

Hunks voice came muffled from under them, “Hey guys.”

Keith quirked his lips at the pile of kids on the floor and turned to Hunk’s mother, who smiled at him warmly. “Thanks for having us for lunch, ma’am. We appreciate it.”

She touched his arm fondly, “It’s no problem. You all are working so hard, you deserve it. And quite frankly, spaghetti is pretty easy to make.” She laughed, taking in the crowded apartment. “Especially for large numbers.” 

He gave her a small smile and went to grab a plate, standing in line behind the other paladins. While waiting, he did a mental check on their current states. Since Sendak’s defeat a few weeks ago, and the defeat of the mysterious Altean robot (which was undergoing research headed by Coran and the Holts), Keith’s main priority was making sure that the member’s of Voltron rested, recovered, and recoopedated from their nearly non-stop lives of constant stress, uncertainty, and near death. 

He looked at Pidge, who was quickly shoveling in spaghetti. Pidge. She was okay. When not doing clean up, she often got to work closely with her family on updating the rest of the world on the Altean technology and security systems. Being with them, Keith noticed, made her much more energized and upbeat.

Allura. She currently was enthusiastically slurping up one noodle at a time, specks of sauce splattering onto her chin. She, Coran, and Romelle, on their downtime, would scatter around and talk with the Earthlings, fascinated by the different cultures and customs that existed within one planet. (The Earthlings were equally as intrigued.) 

Lance sat at the end of the table eating quietly, looking more subdued than usual. Since the end of Zendak, and through the team’s time together, Lance followed orders, but mostly kept to himself. There was none of his usual stream of consciousness or complaint. His quirks had become quiet, and his boasting was nearly nonexistent. Keith didn’t know what was wrong. He wondered if anything was amiss in his family, but judging by his close relationship with Veronica and his swarm of a family messaging him throughout the day, Keith thought that was not the likely answer.

He then looked over at Hunk, who was trying to uncessfully eat his spaghetti around two kids who were sitting on each knee. Family was clearly where Hunk thrived, the comfort and support they brought him brought out so much determination and confidence in Hunk, gave him a larger purpose and grounded him at the same time. Keith watched as Hunk removed some of his formed spaghetti from his neice’a hair. It made Keith ache a little. 

But he had his mom now, he reminded himself. However, they were both so busy in their respective fields. Keith with the Voltron cleanup, and his mother assisting with leftover enemy intelligence and communicating with what was left of the Blades. They did talk though, at least once a day, even if it were for a couple of minutes, updating each other on the progress they’d made. 

And he had Shiro. Or he thought he did. Shiro had been…hard to contact lately. It seemed each time Keith went to his office or tried to reach him through telecommunication, Shiro was gone. On a supply trip, on a rescue mission, part of a clean-up crew, in a defense strategy meeting. He seemed to be constantly working. If he did answer, Shiro kept conversations straight and to the point, never rude, but often forced. Keith thought back to when he went directly to Shiro’s quarters a few days ago, but instead of finding Shiro, he ran into Commander Iverson, who was turning away from Shiro’s closed door. 

“Oh, excuse me Commander,” Keith took a slight step back, surprised to see the commander at Shiro’s personal apartment. “I was just looking for Lieutenant Shirogane.”

The commander nodded. “He’s been a tough man to get ahold of lately. I was just trying to find him myself.”

“Yes sir, he’s been keeping himself busy lately.” Keith thought of the multiple messages he left on Shiro’s messaging system. The multiple messages he knows the other paladins left for Shiro as well. “I’ve hardly spoken to him since we defeated Sendak. I’ve left messages, though.”

The commander nodded again, and looked down at his feet, taking some time to gather his thoughts. “Yes, well, since hearing about Lieutenant Waterson...I think he has been trying to keep himself more busy than anything else...”

Keith startled at the response. “What about Lieutenant Waterson, sir?”

The commander brought his gaze up from the floor and looked at Keith solemnly. “We lost Adam, as well as nine other flight officers in the fight against Sendak when he first arrived to our planet.” Keith felt the blood leave his face. “I am surprised Shirogane didn’t tell you.”

Keith, still in shock, shook his head. “Yes, I—I mean no, he didn’t tell me. Or anyone. If he hasn’t told me, he hasn’t told anyone.”

“I’m sorry you found out this way, cadet.” He looked at Keith, sincerity in his voice. “That wasn’t my intention...”

But Keith didn’t hear the apology, thoughts were already running through his head about Shiro. He didn’t deserve this. He certainly didn’t deserve to go through this alone. Keith had to talk to him, had to—

“Cadet?” 

Keith broke from his thoughts to find the Commander looking at him with concern. “I’m sorry sir, I—if you don’t mind, I’m going to look for Shiro.” He backed away, forgetting formality. He turned to follow the path he came, rounding the corner before the commander could let out a response.  
————————————-  
“Veronica, I’m...I’m not dumb, am I?” Lance threw the baseball square at his sister’s chest, and she caught it easily. They were out past the limits of the destructed city in an expanse of solid dirt, where the gritty dust reminded Lance of the baseball field the two spent hours on as children.

“What?” She exasperated, glasses glinting in the sun. “You’re asking if you’re dumb?” She threw the ball back at him, a firm pop sounded when the ball landed in his glove. 

He winced and removed his glove, giving his hand a few shakes. “Yeah.” He tried to make it sound nonchalant, but Veronica could hear the worry his voice. “Am I dumb?” He threw the ball back, this time near her knees.

She caught the ball and scoffed. “Well, that’s a dumb question.” She threw him a ground ball which he fielded easily. “Of course you’re not dumb. Why would you ask that?”

“Well,” he threw himself his own pop-fly and attempted to catch it. It landed with a thud a few paces away and his shoulders sank. “Sometimes it just feels that way, you know? With the crew. Like I’m just the dumb one.”

Veronica approached him before dropping her glove on the ground as seat cushion. She sat on it with a sigh, and crossed her arms around her knees. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s a long story, but…” He thought back to the weird, hallucinatory game-show. “Basically the word ‘dumb’ was coming out of all of their mouths, directed at me, when they were counting on me most.”

He joined her on the ground, but put the glove on his head like a cap instead. “And it wasn’t just then really, that I felt so...incompetent. It’s like all the time. Anytime Pidge or Hunk, or Allura and Keith, or any of that combination, are dealing with trouble, it’s like…I’m too stupid to figure it out or keep up.”

“Well can you keep up?” She elbowed him in the ribs softly. 

“Well, of course not!” He said, throwing his glove lamely. “But it’s not like I even want to. Just because I’m not into computers or engineering or the science of Altaen magic, doesn’t mean I’m dumb! It just means I’m not into that stuff!”

“Sounds like you’ve figured it out the question for yourself, then.” She jostled his shoulders after a few seconds of silence. “Lance, having smarts isn’t everything. And besides you /are/ smart.”

She shoved him when he didn’t respond. “Plus you’ve got so much more going for you!”

He looked down at his feet.“Like what?”

She leaned back on her hands and rolled her eyes. “Oh, so now you want me to list all of your redeeming qualities?” 

He kept his gaze down, and stayed silent.  
Was he really that scared she didn’t have an answer for him? 

She turned to him, serious now. “Lance. You are brave. You are honest. You are so loyal. You don’t let people mess around with those you care about. You are an excellent fighter, from what I hear. You keep everyone laughing. Even mama, that time she was stressed about making ends meet. Our family was lost without you.” She grabbed his hand. “You are so good, Lance”

He looked up with her, a half-smile on his face. “You really think so?” 

She nudged him with her shoulder. “Of course I do.” He gave a loud sniffle, and she looked at him teasingly. “Are you a little misty eyed, Lancey?”

Hs gave a small grin and rubbed his eyes. “Maybe just a little.”

She pulled him to his feet. “See? You’re even sensitive too. What’s not to love?” She put him in and headlock before rubbing his head with her fist. “Talk to your team, Lance.”

————————-

Keith showed up near dusk to a block of the city currently being built back. The current structure in progress was said to be one of the numerous temporary shelters for those who homes had been destroyed. It was also the construction site Keith discovered Shiro’s name scheduled under when Pidge hacked into the Garrison’s Rehabilitation Department for him. 

He looked for Shiro among the mostly abandoned skeleton of the building, most various humans and other species helping with the rebuild had abandoned it for the night. Keith spotted him on a platform, holding a wooden beam, while another scraggly man hammered it into place. He approached them from behind, worried that calling out would make Shiro a flight risk. 

He paused a few steps away, the sound of the hammering mostly masking out his footsteps.

“Shiro.” 

The man with the hammer stopped and turned to look at Keith, then looked to his coworker. Shiro froze in his posture and tilted his head down.

“Keith, hey.”

Keith crossed his arms and the man with Shiro muttered that he was going to go take lunch and wandered off. Shiro turned around, but kept his eyes at his feet.

Keith shifted in place while silence lingered between them. He searched for something to say. “Um...long time no see.”

Shiro sniffed, eyes still downcast, his posture small. He tried to force a smile. “Yeah, well, I’ve just been busy. Trying to do as much as I can for these people. There’s...a lot to keep up with.”

Keith nodded, taking a step closer to him. “We’ve been trying to get ahold of you. We’ve been worried.”

Shiro shuffled backwards and wiped his brow. “Right, well I’m good. Like I said, just trying to do as much as I can here.”

Keith nodded again. Dogs barked in the distance. “I heard about Adam.”

This time it was Shiro’s turn to nod. He bit his lip at the mention of his name. “When did you find out?”

“Maybe an hour ago. The rest of the team doesn’t know.” He wanted to step closer but something told him not to.

“It’s not something I want to talk about.” Shiro squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his jaw. “Or think about, really.”

Keith waited steadily, his gaze on Shiro. He could feel the tension coming off of him, could see it build each time Shiro opened and closed his mechanical fist.

Finally, Shiro burst, speaking quickly, panic on his face. “If I just keep working, it’s like I’m still gone on a mission. Away from him. I know it’s been years. I know it fell apart at the end. But we were together longer than we were ever apart. He was going to stay with me through everything. He was prepared to do that. But he d—“ He caught himself of the word, shaking his head. His voice became desperate. “But if I keep working, I don’t have to know he’s...I can just keep moving and working, and it’s like I’m still on a mission...and I’m just...”

“Shiro—” Keith put out an arm to comfort him, but Shiro turned away.

“He wasn’t supposed to—— first...it was me. How am I still here? Over and over I’ve nearly——Why didn’t he get the chances I did?” He sunk into a crouch, and put his hands to his head. His voice broke, and he attempted to muffle his sob. “He deserved so much more—“ 

Keith came down to him, and circled an arm around Shiro’s shoulders. “I know, Shiro...shhh.. I know,” he whispered urgently. “But you can’t do this to yourself. I’m sorry about Adam. I am. I know what he meant to you.” Keith felt a twinge in his knee from kneeling, and sunk awkwardly to the ground, taking Shiro with him. “He did deserve more...but it’s not your fault. I hate that your in this much pain. But you can’t blame yourself. Do you know what life would be like without you here?”

Shiro remained coiled tightly in a ball, shivering, eyes pinched tight. Keith loosened his grip slightly and put a hand to Shiro’s head, pulling him to his chest. 

“I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t, Shiro. I wouldn’t be. Neither would Lance, or Pidge, or Hunk. Allura or Coran. Or this universe as we know it. So many people need you. Adam sacrificed himself for this. He—he knew the risks, just like you do.” His voice broke. “So please you can’t—you can’t keep going on like this. You can’t blame yourself.“

Keith wasn’t sure if Shiro heard any of what he just said, but his face and posture had relaxed slightly. Shiro whispered, “I just loved him so much.”

“I’m so sorry,” Keith whispered to him. He said it a few times. He stayed with him there a few moments, rocking them back and forth. No one was there to comfort him when his father died, but Shiro was there to guide him back. And he would be there for Shiro, always. 

Eventually, Shiro relaxed his position and let out a deep breath. And Keith tosseled his hair before guiding him to his feet. He slung Shiro’s arm around his shoulder. “Let’s go back to the base. We can get some food in you, let you get some rest.”

Shiro nodded mutely, eyes red, and walked with Keith in an exhausted daze back to the Garrison. 

Keith looked at his downcast eyes. “We’ll get through this.”


End file.
